Unpredictable
by Caryl4ever
Summary: Sophia had a bad feeling about the walkers because of a dream she had. No one listened to her and they regretted it. Criticize if you want.


She felt it coming. She knew that a herd was gonna come their way. She hovered around Daryl a lot. Sophia. She was terrified.

"Well you're real clingy today" He picked her up. "Whatsa matter?"

"Its coming" It was from her dream, but she always beleived her dreams. Most of them actually came true.

"Whats comin?"

"Them...over there"

He looked behind him "What, the walkers?"

She nodded. "How would you know?"

"I saw it"

"What, when?"

"Last night"

He knew what she meant, a nightmare. "Baby that don't mean its gonna happen"

"But what if it does?"

"Idunno we'll probly just kill em before they get close"

"But what if-"

"Hey, aint nothing gonna happen to you"

"But-"

"Aint nothin!"

She held onto him a little tighter. She was looking at the graves from the last herd. they lost a lot of them. Three graves. Only two were being used since they found Carol. But she realized how little people they had left. Two people dead. And that was a lot. Daryl kicked Carol's cross over when he found her...alive. But the other two. Lori and T-dog. Lori's death changed Carl. He wasn't around much people anymore. He sat by himself. Sophia didn't even remember him speaking to her after that day. And evryone missed T-dog. He got along with everyone. Merle maybe not so much. But he stopped calling him a nigger. Daryl saw Merle walk outside of the prison, smoking a cigarette. He put Sophia down.

"Go find your mama"

She ran off and back inside. Daryl went over to Merle. He handed him a cigarette.

"Where'd you find these?"

"Gas station"

"When'd you go to the gas station?"

"Yesterday"

"I didn't even see you go"

"It wasn't exactly morning yet...you were asleep still"

"How come you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Leave while I'm sleepn'. You've done it all my life"

"I'm a night dweller"

"That don't sound creepy at all, Merle"

"I know...passed a store on the way back...come on a run with me?"

"Nope"

"Why not?"

"Cuz I dont feel like it... I haven't been stayn' back for weeks. I'm stayn' back this time"

"I just won't go then, there was a walker by it, aint that great of a sign now is it?"

He nodded, flicked his cigarette away, and went inside. Sophia was sitting at a window and staring at the fence.

"You still thinkn' bout' a herd?"

"I can't help it daddy"

"Aint gonna happen, I'm telling you"

She stared out the window. She jumped when the walkers threw themselves at the fence. Merle walked past and drew them near. She ran back to Daryl.

"Hey, calm down, the fence'll hold"

Carol went over to them "Baby it was a dream, its not gonna happen" She just held onto Daryl tighter.

* * *

They missed a cell block, when they first cleared out the prison. They thought the door would hold. Walkers could hear them. They rammed against the door constantly. One little girl walker added to the presure on it. The lock busted. They were free. Heading to their cell block.

It was raining really hard. Sophia was sitton on Daryl's lap. She was still watching the fence. She got tired of it after a while. Carol was helping Rick with Judith. Sophia got up and looked out the door and saw a herd of walkers running at her. She screamed. Everyone ran outside. Sophia ran in the other direction and Daryl followed her.

Rick grabbed Carl and Judith. Carol saw them and she stopped running. She was looking for Sophia. Daryl was gone too.

"Rick wait!"

He turned around "Carol we gotta go!"

"Sophia's gone, Daryl too!"

That got Merle's attention. He turned around and looked back at the prison.

"They're com'n just wait"

Daryl picked up Sophia and they locked themselves inside a cell. Sophia was crying.

"Did anything bite you? Are you alright?"

"What'd I say? I told you and no one listened!"

"Its unpredictable, Sophia!"

The walkers banged on the door and Sophia jumped. Daryl turned around. Holding Sophia behind him.

"Its ok, the door's still closed, its just noise"

The door opened behind him and he grabbed his knife and started killing everyone that got close to him. One slipped past him and went at Sophia, she was screaming as it gabbed her arms. She grabbed onto its shoulders and held it back away from her face.

"Daddy?!"

"Hang on to it, iv'e only got like three more!"

"But daddy, I can't!"

"Use your knife!"

The walker snapped at her face. "Daddy?!"

He killed the last couple of walkers then grabbed the one on Sophia. He dug his fingers into its neck and stabbed his head. When he let go of it he had walker blood on his hands. Sophia gasped.

"Daddy?!"

He went to her and held her close. She wrapped her arms around him. "It aint my blood, I'm ok."

He pulled her away for a minute "But what about you? Are you bit?!"

She nodded "Oh thank god" He pulled her close again. Sophia saw a walker coming into the cell. She screamed. She let go of Daryl as he turned around to kill the walker. Sophia watched as he screamed when the walker bit into his neck. He put it down and he fell onto the ground. Sophia was crying and she sat down next to him. She covered the blood with her hand. Like it would help.

"Daddy?" She was crying really hard and Daryl could barely tell what she said. He put a hand in her hair. His daughter. His flesh and blood. He never wanted her blood to be on his hands. But it was even worse to see his blood on her's. A tear streamed down his face.

"Don't cry. Stop crying" He wiped away one of her tears

She was trying to catch her breath. "But daddy, how will you-"

"I won't" She started crying harder. He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. Then she hugged him. When she got up his blood was all over her face. Daryl cried at the sight of it. He winced at the pain.

"Hey, you listen" She looked away from him "Look at me, Sophia, listen you gotta go back to your mama"

"I won't leave you"

"You have to find your mother"

"No"

"Yes, Sophia" He grabbed his crossbow, he had been teaching her how to use it. And she was getting good, considering she hadn't been using it her whole life like he has.

"Take it"

"What! Daddy no!"

"Take it Sophia! Now! Please"

She took it from his hands. "Stay with me...til' I'm...gone"

She nodded. "I love you daddy"

He knew that in the movies, when you die, your life flashes before your eyes. But it wasn't his, it was her's. He saw her in her purple footie pajamas with a pacifier in her mouth, she was wobbling on her feet since she just started to walk a few days before. He saw her laughing as he was pushing her on the swing he tied to a tree branch earlier that morning. He saw Merle arm-wresling with her when she was seven, he was letting her win every time. He saw her in her girl scout uniform after he bought all of those crappy cookies she had no luck selling, even though they just rot in the basement the whole time. He just knew how excited she was about getting the stuffed animals as a prize. She came home with about four. And the little purple bear was in their cell block right now. He couldn't catch his bretah anymore. His hand fell from Sophia's hair onto her shoulder.

"I love you too" He took his last breath, his hand fell to the floor.

She whispered "Daddy?" She grabbed his hand, like it would bring him back

She started sobbing "Daddy?"

She sat there for a little while with him and then she got up. Back upstairs to go find Carol. She stopped in her cell and grabbed the purple bear. She was crying again. She ran outside.

* * *

Rick saw her, "Carol, there she is"

She saw her daughter and ran to her. She hugged her. "Thank god your alright!" Then she realized. She pulled Sophia away, other people were crowding around them "Where's your daddy?"

Sophia started to cry really hard then she buried her face in Carol's shoulder. "Sophia?"

Then Merle saw the crossbow. "Oh god" Carol looked down at it.

"Oh, baby, no, don't tell me...no" She started crying and then she held her close again.

Merle looked at the ground, "You sure?"

Sophia nodded in Carol's arms. Merle remembered trying to piss off Andrea. She didn't notice. But he took her gun. He pulled it out, and went back into the prison. On the way down to where she saw Sophia run, he started shaking. Maybe he just got knocked out. Maybe he was alive. He saw the pile of walkers by a cell. He pulled them all out of the way. He went inside and he saw him. He was frozen at the door. He laid there still, with his eyes open, blood splatttered all over his shoulder. Merle let the tears flow. He pulled out a knife and knelt down by Daryl. He put the blade on his head. Right when it broke some skin Merle pulled it away. He sat in the corner of the cell and cried. He couldn't do it. He could never hurt him when he was little either. When he was drunk, and Daryl was little, and he would almost accidentally hurt him, he would leave the house and not come back for about a week. But then he realized. He never wanted his family to fear him. And thats exactly what they would be if they saw him walking around. He would be doing him a favor. He stood up and pointed the gun at him. He cried a little and then he whispered to him

"I love you baby brother"

He pulled the trigger. His eyes were still open. He swore that before he shot the gun that he saw Daryl's hand twitch. He saw his eyes. He was right. His eyes were yellow. He put the gun to his own head. He pulled the trigger...Empty. He put the gun down then he fell on the ground. He started to choke on his own tears.

"Baby brother..."

Then he went back outside...he couldn't sit there with Daryl anymore. Everyone saw Merle with the gun, and crying. Merle Dixon crying. He went to the rest of the group. Handed Andrea her gun. Everyone heard the shot. They knew what he did. Sophia was still sobbing. Carol was crying too. Then Merle fell to his knees and cried harder. He had his head on the ground. He was shaking. Almost everyone was crying. Even Carl's eyes were red. Glenn was trying not to cry. Merle was still on the ground. Rick pulled him back onto his feet and then Merle ran back inside and started punching holes into the walls.

Rick made Merle lead him and Glenn to go get the body. Merle was still crying, he cried through the night, so did Sophia and Carol. He stood in the doorway. Rick went in and saw Daryl laying there in the corner.

"He turned before you shot him?"

"Only for a second, I didn't notice til after I shot"

Carl was behind them and Glenn was talking about Daryl's eyes. "Sophia and Carol would sure get upset if they saw him like this"

Carl got their attention "Uh, guys?"

They turned around and saw that Sophia followed them there. She was sobbing again. Merle started too.

"Go find your mama"

"But-"

"Now!"

She ran back upstairs and Merle went back up to let Rick and Glenn do their thing.

* * *

Everyone gathered around a freshly dug grave. They had used the cross they had on Carol's grave before Daryl kicked it over. Carol was holding Sophia close to her. She was holding tightly onto the purple bear. Rick was speaking, but no one listened, they all thought about Daryl in their own way. Merle stood there last. He knelt down to the grave. He prayed.

"What the hell did I do? Why'd you take him from me? Did Carol do sumthin, Sophia? Why'd he have to leave, he had a family, that loved him. I loved him. I killed him. Maybe I shoulda left him. Maybe it wasn't a favor. Maybe it just scared him. Maybe...Daryl didn't even know this..I didn't til' last night...Carol's pregnant. Hows she sposed to raise a kid with out Daryl? He could have stayed at least a couple years more. His kid won't even know who he is. How'm I sposed to deal with that?"

He went back inside. then Sophia came out with the purple bear. She stood by the grave crying.

"You've saved my life more times than you've had to, it's the least I can do, I love you Daddy"

She placed the bear on his grave and ran away.

* * *

Carol had the baby and Merle realized why he needed to stay there with them. He was just like Daryl. He looked like him. He acted like him. Daryl Jr. Merle taught him everything. Like he got to start over on how he raised Daryl the first time. Like he never really died. Like he came back. Daryl Jr. did make everyone happier than they had been for a long time. Merle never held a gun to his head again.


End file.
